Watch The Trailer For Planet Rock: The Story of Hip Hop and the Crack Generation

Hip-hop has long drawn inspiration from the drug culture, from the stories of iconic dealers like Ricky Ross (many of whom were profiled in BET’s series American Gangster) to portraits of drug-ravaged communities, and everything in between. Yet the particular connection between the rise of crack in the mid-1980s and the culture of burgeoning hip-hop scenes remains under-explored (one notable exception: Ethan Brown‘s 2005 book Queens Reigns Supreme: Fat Cat, 50 Cent, and the Rise of the Hip Hop Hustler). We were pleased, then, to announce earlier this month that VH1′s Emmy Award-winning franchise Rock Docs was exploring this topic with Planet Rock, a documentary narrated and executive produced by none other than Ice-T. The trailer, which premiered today and is viewable above, just stoked our interest that much more. Be sure to tune in to Planet Rock: The Story of Hip Hop and the Crack Generation on Sunday, September 18 at 10 PM on VH1.